Amp with best bass control

Oh but it is. The main operative of this thread is 'best'. Remember? However there is friendly competition and then there are European soccer matches.

Well... better to kick a (european) football, or to kick a boulder?

@ Mbovaird, Hi, I see you are selling some very nice top tier High-end componets here on the gon, It appears to be nearly your entire system, Do you plan to get one of the Dan D Agistino amps and or pre-amps?, I would admire you hugely if you got eany model Agistno componets!, you know they make a stereo amp as well, basically a mono block that Dan split the power to make a stereo amp, sounds really good!, let me know if you would what you plan to use for a system now, Thankyou so much.

Damn Wolf you're an old war horse. Did you ever build your own plywood cabinets in the early sixties? I had great success with a pair of D-140E 15" JBL Scoops powered by a Marantz 8B right up until the 360 came out. You still playing?

My Bass cabinets: 1969 2011 acoustic 360/361s paper cone, Bergantino 322 paper cone, Bag End D2-10, ELF-18 paper cone, reinforced 1970 Ampeg 8-10" Tone Tubby's Hemp cone, and the rig I use most these days is an Acoustic Image FocusR with a DIY shallow 12" wedge paper cone and the trusty Avalon U5 DI which send my signal to the house speakers which are usually paper cone.

Mbovaird, Hartke uses aluminum cones with good results but are hardly the mainstream of back-line Bass amplification. Chances are every concert you attend your listening to paper. Hi fi is a whole other world.

@ Audiolaybrinth - I flip gear - a lot. It's what I do. A year ago, I had a pair of Sonus Faber Stradivari's and all McIntosh gear. Then I sold all that, and moved to Pass gear. Then I sold all that and moved to ARC gear.....now.....well....you get the picture. I have two systems going and I'm constantly swapping gear in and out.

People who aren't gear swappers have a hard time understanding those who are! I like to switch gear. That's it. No secret. No voodoo magic. Just love to try different things. Whenever I post an ad for something, I get these PM's "why are you selling this?" or "why are you selling that?" I'm not sure people believe me! I like to try different things - that's all.

I have audiophile friends who are similar (and some even worse!) - and others who take years and years to make a decision and upgrade or buy something. There is no right or wrong - whatever floats your boat.

There is very little gear I've had over the past 35 years, that I wished I had kept. Maybe the McIntosh 2301's. They are pretty special, but below average bass control. If you can live with that, oh my, are they good!

Hell, I've bought and sold the Classe CP800 three times! The Classe CAM600's twice! I'm definitely a little nutty! :)

As for D'Agostino amps - I really like what I hear from both Soulution and D'Agostino. Although, admittedly, I was so overwhelmed by the sheer liquidity and musicality of the D'Agostino amps, I was completely awash with emotion to pay proper attention to just the bass!

But I'm between the Soulution and D'Agostino. With the Soulution, I hear more of the music. It has this uncanny ability to sort everything out with no blurring, smudging, muddying whatsoever. Crystal clear. And absolutely the best bass control I've heard - yet.

However, I can't think of two amps that are more opposite - but yet both were incredibly pleasing - but for different reasons. Its almost like a heart vs head battle!

Other than those two (and maybe the Vitus), everything else I've listened to, seemed like more or less, the same or a slight variation of the same - and truthfully, the Classe CAM600's I own remain right up there with many of these - and exceeded many of them too is speed and smoothness. Not sure why they don't get the respect they deserve. Maybe if they were still made in Canada and cost 3 times as much they would! :)

But I digress...I desperately want the D'Agostino's to pair perfectly with my new (just ordered) Raidho D3's, but I'm afraid they may not. The Soulution/Raidho pairing I think will be a much better synergy. The owner of Raidho uses Soulution amps in his home (501's). That says a lot.

Just because I love the D'Agostino amps and the Raidho speakers doesn't mean they will work well together.

My research for pairing with Raidho's has showing the best three are:

1. Soulution (high priced)
2. Jeff Rowland (moderate priced)
3. Sim Audio (most economical)

Mike